October 11, 2016

What a day… After a few minor family crisis, the girls and I made it to dinner. The littles got dropped off a little early so big sister and I could go practice before her big horse show this weekend. Poor little miss toddler hasn’t been feeling good and fell asleep just before six and missed out on the food.

Dinner was one of my personal favorites. Tarragon Chicken which I believe is adapted from an old New York Times cookbook, however when I searched the recipe I could not find a similar recipe. It is braised chicken breasts smothered in a rich tarragon-wine-cream sauce and mushrooms. Tarragon pairs so well with both chicken and mushrooms that you feel like you are eating an extremely high-end and complicated dish. To accompany this delectable main course simple white rice to soak up the sauce was served along with peas and pearl onions, buttermilk honey bread, and applesauce. Dessert was sour cream coffee cake, a dense pound cake like dessert filled with a cinnamon and pecan streusel and a light icing drizzled over top for a little added sweetness.

And our conversations went something along the lines of this:

I brought these Halloween cookie cutters, I figured if you didn’t want to make cookies the girls could use them for play dough.

Thanks, I am sure they will be busted out in no time.

What was the name of that book, the one with the poem about being sick until they found out it was Saturday?

“Where the Sidewalk Ends,” I have all three books here. (She bounds off to her room to get them)

What was the name of that author?

Shel Silverstein, I always thought that name was hard to say.

What were the names of the other books (multiple suggestions follow)

I am sure she will have all three dug out in a matter of seconds (comes bounding back out of her room)

Discussion of the books and the reading of a couple of the poems.

Published in 1991…

Yep, I remember these books were all the rage when I was in first and second grade!

Dinner’s ready!

OOOH Amanda, that baby is getting rounder!

Go ahead and say prayers “Bless this house O Lord we pray, keep us safe by night and day. Amen.”

Amen

Now there is a small amount of homemade butter for everyone to try if you like

(General rumblings of who wouldn’t want to try it?)

I can’t believe the difference just in color from the store butter, the difference is just amazing.

This is so good!

So where’s the buttermilk?

In the bread

So can you drink it? Is it good?

Well, ask the girl that doesn’t really like milk.

It was very good.

So how much do you sell a gallon of milk for?

It is illegal to sell raw milk in the state of Michigan…

You know the organic farm I recently visited said there were CSA’s for things like that….

Right, you can buy a share of the cow, or you can buy a jar and fill it with whatever you like at the farm.

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!AHHHH!! MAAAAAAAMAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

I’ve got her. What wrong baby? Still not feeling good?

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!WHAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (runs to Grandma)

Grandma proceeded to go rock the ill feeling toddler. Meanwhile, the baby is happily munching on peas and chicken and only making a peep when her plate runs empty.

On that farm I visited, the farmer was telling me about a time when his turkeys got out and were crossing the road, all 500 of them!

Oh wow!

They had to stop traffic and everything, but he said luckily they tend to be social birds and will follow you around.

I think that’s pretty true, our follow us around, but I think they are more food driven than looking to chat!

AHHHHHHHH!!!! MMAAAAMMMMMMAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I thought maybe she would be ok to come out and sit with us now.

I’ll go rock her some more, finish your dinner

So Grandma, is this applesauce homemade?

Yes, from Moore’s Orchard, we went the other day so they are very fresh apples.

Definitely the place to get apples around here!

Do you want some butter for that bread?

No, I’m going to use it to soak up some of that gravy.

Good thing Van isn’t here, she would fight you for that gravy.

You haven’t met Van yet, she is one of our other “daughters”, We’ll get her back here one of these days.

She would eat gravy by the spoonful

Maybe a straw if you’d give her one!

Yeah, we miss them, time for them to come back.

I remember a TV show on a long time ago that had this old guy cooking. We called him the cheap drunk chef. He would be cooking as always say…”Ah it doesn’t matter what kind of wine you get. Pour a little in the pot, a little more for the cook, just get the cheap stuff.”

What show was that!?! (general laughter)

I don’t remember.

AHHHHH!HHAHHAHGAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think we are going to go home.. poor thing just is not feeling any better.

Do you want some coffee cake to go? Yes, please and thank you.

Have a good night everyone, see you next week.

I’m going to get this poor girl home so you can all hear yourselves think again.